Welcome to Week 8 of Transformation in Motion. This week, I have summarised a fantastic book I recently read by Michael S. Hyatt. In his book entitled ‘Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan for Achieving Your Most Important Goals (2018), Michael S. Hyatt speaks about how our belief system can often be the biggest obstacle to achieving our goals.

In his book, Michael S. Hyatt states that ‘limiting beliefs are always short-sighted visualisations of the present that has a lasting effect on the future. In other words, our limiting self-beliefs can severely compromise our future. If we only focus on what we are not doing now then we will never get it done.

Challenging those beliefs

When setting your goals, Hyatt suggests that you should work on the choices you make, remodel your belief system, and exert your dominance on those things you control. In other words, focus on what you can manage and let go of the rest. Hyatt suggests the following formula to help you challenge those limiting self-beliefs:

• Identify those limiting self-beliefs and make sure you record them
• Review the beliefs and their impact on your life
• Reframe them and reject them
• Revise those beliefs to fit a more affirmative and empowering model

An example of this could be the belief that you are too old to learn a new skill. Instead of feeding into such erroneous thinking, focus on how your experience can significantly contribute to expanding your knowledge base. List all of your past goals and acknowledge the factors that contributed to your success and failure. Then come up with ways to overcome those past obstacles.

My process

What I did was to focus on two goals that I had done well in (according to me, that is) and then broke them down to establish what had made them successful. Firstly I looked at my training and identified that one of the critical areas of my success was that I made it non-negotiable. In other words, I trained every day regardless of how I felt. What also helped was that my trainer and I took measurements every two weeks. Doing this motivated me to try harder as I only set goals for the next two weeks.

The second goal I reviewed was to get Transformation in Motion off the ground. This was not so easy as there are several areas that need attention. However, by reviewing my progress to date I was able to identify those areas and put together an action plan to overcome the obstacles. Now I am back on track #justsaying.

Hyatt strongly suggests that you must prepare a foundation for success by writing down your goals. Review them constantly, as this will inform you as to where you are with your goals. Reviewing your goals also gives you insight into how you are doing and any possible obstacles that might stand in your way. Then come up with a strategy to overcome them.

Using the SMARTER formula

Hyatt speaks of smart goals and uses the acronym SMARTER to help with your goal setting:

• Specific: make sure that you are as straightforward as possible when setting your goals. For example, instead of saying you want to get fitter, rather write down that you want to run 5km in under 30 minutes within five months.
• Measurable: You must have a way of measuring your progress, so the time and distance from the example above would be a way of measuring your progress.
• Actionable: How are you going to achieve your goals practically?
• Risky: You need to take risks with your goals and get out of your comfort zone; otherwise, not much is going to happen
• Time-keyed: You must have need deadlines for each stage of your action plan for your goals
• Exciting: Your goals must inspire you and excite you. Passion helps you maintain momentum when things get a bit tough.
• Relevant: Your goals must tie in with your lifestyle. Otherwise, they are not going to be achievable. And remember from week 1, the Why is essential. Why am I doing this, and what do I hope to achieve?

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm” Abraham Lincoln.

I hope that this was as beneficial. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found Michael’s suggestions to be of great value. Focus on your wins and apply the same formula to other areas of your life where you want to succeed. After all, if you have done it once, then you can do it again.